Telangana govt aims to make one crore woman SHG members 'crorepatis': CM

Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Saturday said the state government is working with the aim to make one crore women of Self Help Group (SHGs) members 'crorepatis' and to make the state a USD one trillion economy.

Speaking at the launch of WE Hub-Women Acceleration Programme here, he said the government is facilitating establishment of solar power generation units and petrol pumps by the SHGs, besides several other initiatives to ensure the economic progress of the groups.

Solar power generation and petrol pumps are considered the domain of big corporates by the SHGs, he said.

The government has currently enabled the SHGs to produce 1,000 MW solar power and it is ready to allocate production of another 1,000 MW to the groups, he said.

The strength of women SHGs currently stands at 67 lakh and it is the responsibility of existing woman members to make it one crore, he said.

If the total number of SHGs rises to one crore, they can make government or dictate terms, he said.

He directed the officials to conduct a special drive to enrol women in urban areas as members of SHGs. The enrolment of women as SHG members is found to be low in urban areas, he said.

Reddy also said an ID card would be provided to the women for preparing a database of their health status.

The government would ensure health security for the women SHG members by conducting preventive health check-ups annually and preparing the database, he said.

The Congress would like to form a government after the next assembly elections in 2028 with the votes of the one crore SHG members, he said.

"By making one crore (women) as members (in SHGs), we will form a government for the second time with those one crore votes. We will take responsibility to make one crore of you as crorepatis," he said.

WE Hub is the country's first state-led nodal organisation for women entrepreneurs.